Integrated care

About: Integrated care is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 7318 publications have been published within this topic receiving 106960 citations. The topic is also known as: Integrated Delivery of Health Care & Delivery of Health Care, Integrated.

Improving Behavioral Health Equity through Cultural Competence Training of Health Care Providers.

Abstract: Racial/ethnic disparities have long persisted in the United States despite concerted health system efforts to improve access and quality of care among African Americans and Latinos. Cultural competence in the health care setting has been recognized as an important feature of high-quality health care delivery for decades and will continue to be paramount as the society in which we live becomes increasingly culturally diverse. Unfortunately, there is limited empirical evidence of patient health benefits of a culturally competent health care workforce in integrated care, its feasibility of implementation, and sustainability strategies. This article reviews the status of cultural competence education in health care, the merits of continued commitment to training health care providers in integrated care settings, and policy and practice strategies to ensure emerging health care professionals and those already in the field are prepared to meet the health care needs of racially and ethnically diverse populations.

Integrated care for patients with asthma: views of general practitioners.

Abstract: BACKGROUND. In 1989, a shared or integrated care scheme was developed for hospital outpatients with asthma, using the computerized patient record system of Grampian Health Board, Scotland. Patients with asthma attending hospital clinics were entered into this scheme and were invited to attend their general practitioner instead of an outpatient clinic for review of their asthma. Three-monthly questionnaires covering clinical aspects of asthma were sent to these patients and their general practitioners; the latter then returned them to the specialist. Patients could be recalled to the hospital clinic if either the general practitioner or consultant felt this was necessary and all patients were reviewed after one year by the specialist. The success of integrated care for patients with asthma relies on the cooperation of general practitioners. AIM. The aim of this study was to investigate how this scheme worked in general practice, and general practitioners' perceptions of it, in order to identify factors that enhance or inhibit integrated care for patients with asthma in general practice. METHOD. A qualitative survey was carried out with a random, stratified sample of 38 of the 317 general practitioners in the region. Semi-structured interviews were designed to elicit general practitioners' accounts of their operation of integrated care and their attitudes towards the scheme. RESULTS. General practitioners perceived the scheme to have several advantages: the continuity and quality of care provided was improved; and the transmission of information between general practitioner and specialist was enhanced. Regular general practitioner reviews, instigated by standard letters generated by computer, were favoured as being clearly structured. Concerns were raised about the processing of paperwork, and the possibility that unnecessary reviews might be generated. CONCLUSION. Integrated care for asthma patients is an acceptable management option among general practitioners.

Sharing patient information electronically throughout the NHS

Abstract: Time for all clinicians to get involved The UK government's NHS modernisation process is driven by highly visible promises to improve the standards and equity of heath care in the United Kingdom.1 The government hopes that the systematisation of health care can bring about revolutionary and cost effective changes in the ways we deliver care and has promised new electronic systems to enable us to monitor the quality, effectiveness, and equity of health interventions, in more open, evidence based, and person centred ways. In particular, the NHS in England has £2.3bn ($3.75bn; €3.31bn) to spend between now and 2005 on an integrated care record service. At the heart of this service is a health information spine, where patient summary information will be published for use by all NHS staff involved in the care of individuals.2 Yet few clinicians have played any part in planning the spine. Populating it with appropriate and accurate clinical data will not be straightforward. So what advantages will the information spine bring? Ready access to all information about medical and surgical history, allergies and sensitivities, current medication, and recent investigations would …

Integrated tuberculosis and HIV care in a resource-limited setting: experience from the Martin Preuss centre, Malawi

Abstract: OBJECTIVES To describe the development and operation of integrated tuberculosis (TB) and HIV care at the Martin Preuss Centre, a multipartner organization bringing together governmental and non-governmental providers of HIV and TB services in Lilongwe, Malawi METHODS We used a case study approach to describe the integrated TB/HIV service and to illustrate successes and challenges faced by service providers We quantified effective TB and HIV integration using indicators defined by the World Health Organization RESULTS The custom-designed building facilitates patient flow and infection control, and other important elements include coordinated leadership; joint staff training and meetings; and data systems prompting coordinated care Some integrated services have worked well from the outset, such as promoting HIV testing among patients with TB (96% of patients with TB had documented HIV status in 2009) Other aspects of integrated care have been more challenging, for example achieving high uptake of antiretroviral therapy among HIV-positive TB patients and combining data from paper and electronic systems Good TB treatment outcomes (>85% cure or completion) have been achieved among both HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals CONCLUSIONS High-quality integrated services for TB and HIV care can be provided in a resource-limited setting Lessons learned may be valuable for service providers in other settings of high HIV and TB prevalence